Donated copies of controversial book draw interest

Friday

Nov 30, 2007 at 4:11 PM

The school board has yet to decide whether the book “Sandpiper” should be kept on the library shelves, but four donated copies of the book are in circulation at Brookwood High.

The Tuscaloosa County School Board has yet to decide whether the book “Sandpiper” should be kept on the library shelves, but four copies of the book are in circulation at Brookwood High.And they’ve all been checked out.Originally Brookwood only had one copy of “Sandpiper” by Ellen Whittlinger, but it was checked out by Brookwood 10th-grader Lysa Harding in September. She, along with her grandmother Pam Pennington, have refused to return the book, saying that its graphic descriptions of oral sex made it inappropriate for a school library.The novel tells the story of a 15-year-old girl girl named Sandpiper Hollow Ragsdale, who is on a “sexual power trip and engages in random hook-ups” for oral sex, according to a review by the School Library Journal. According to the review, the novel takes a bold stance on sexual relationships and carries the overall theme that oral sex is the same as conventional sex and has consequences.After Harding and Pennington went public with their concerns, a stream of support for both sides came from out of state. Activists volunteered to provide the $25 fine for not returning the book. Anonymous donors from New York and Kansas also sent the school library two new copies.In recent weeks, the Brookwood High has received two more donated copies, one from New York and one from a teacher at the school, said John Merrill, spokesperson for the school. The fifth copy is still in possession of Harding and has not been returned.

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